The frontman took a journey to Russian Siberia before writing Balto’s newest album. And like the animated dog, a sense of loss is apparent in the newest album, October Road. There’s a great mixture of seclusion, longing, and optimism inherent to their lyrics. Just an all around terrific sound. They may not have released much in the past few months, but they’re definitely an artist to keep track of. Enjoy! Recommended tracks: “The Railyard,” “Self-Portrait.” Though, in all honesty, they don’t have a bad song.

Sometimes only identified by the Delta character they associate with all their music, Alt-J is a group out of Leeds, UK, that plays what they like to call “folkstep.” It’s an interesting style: a mixture of electronic backing and folk-inspired rhythms, lyrics, and musicianship. I guarantee you that you’ll have at least one of these songs stuck in your head for a while. Unfortunately, the album won’t be released in the US until September, but the group was nice enough to post the entire album on their SoundCloud. Recommended Tracks: “Breezeblocks,” “Tesselate”

So this song is actually a bit old, by at least several months. but I feel it’s a track that still, nonetheless, needs to be shared. This enigmatic duo has only released this one song so far, and little is known about the band’s origins, intentions, or identity. Pretty cool, huh? But seriously, this track is just absolutely beautiful. I dare you – try listening to this song only once. It won’t be easy. Enjoy!